ILOILO CITY — About 300 seats of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) kagawad (council) here will be vacant after the May 14 polls.
Atty. Iloilo City Election Officer Reiner Layson on Monday confirmed there are barangays in the city with no candidates for SK chair and members of the SK council.
Comelec data showed that Barangays Libertad-Sta. Isabel in Jaro and Tanza Timawa in City Proper have no candidates for the SK chairperson.
Moreover, eight barangays have no candidates for the SK council. These are barangays Desamparados, Maria Cristina, Libertad Sta. Isabel, Magsaysay, Seminario, President Roxas, Sampaguita and Yulo-Arroyo.
Layson said the barangay and SK elections in Brgy. Libertad-Sta. Isabel will push through, although no ballots will be counted because they have no candidates both for chairperson and kagawad.
“It will be recorded by the electoral boards in their minutes, the same will be reported to the election officer, likewise the election officer will report to the DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government),” he said.
He added they have already furnished the list to the DILG, and the office is fully aware of the status of barangays with no candidates.
Layson also stressed that “absence of candidates does not render an election a failure”.
Further, 95 barangays have around seven candidates for SK kagawad.
Iloilo City has 180 barangays. The SK posts are composed of one chairperson and seven kagawad or council members.
The Comelec official further said it is now up to the DILG to decide after the elections. (Perla Lena/PNA)
